In short
- Start with what can be lost: voice messages, videos, photos on old phones, recipes and letters.
- Ask relatives for stories now, while the people who remember are still here.
- Gather everything in one place the whole family can see and add to, such as a memory book or a memorial page.
In this article
Save what can be lost
- Their voice. Save voice messages, voicemails and videos as files, on a computer and in the cloud. Phone companies delete old voicemails, and phones get lost or replaced. Hearing their voice years from now is a gift.
- Photos on phones and in accounts. Before an old phone is reset or an account is closed, download everything. Facebook and Instagram let you download a copy of an account, and Google offers Google Takeout. See How to digitize old photos for the boxes in the closet.
- Handwriting, letters and recipes. Scan or photograph them. A recipe card in their handwriting can be framed, printed on a tea towel or engraved on a cutting board.
Collect the stories
- Ask the family. Sit with the people who knew them longest, grandparents, aunts, old friends, and record the conversation on your phone. Ask: How did you meet? What was she like as a girl? What made him laugh? What did you learn from her?
- A memory jar. At the funeral or the celebration of life, put out cards and a jar, and ask every guest to write one memory. You will read them for years.
- Their words. Write down their sayings, jokes, nicknames, the songs they sang. These small things disappear first.
Keep a few of their things
- A memory box. A few objects that hold them: a watch, glasses, a letter, a scarf, a ticket from a trip, the keychain they always carried.
- A quilt or pillow from their shirts. Many seamstresses and online services make quilts, pillows or teddy bears from clothes, one for each grandchild.
- A keepsake. Many funeral homes can take a fingerprint, which can be made into a pendant or a ring.
Put it all together
- A family recipe book with their dishes, in their words, with a photo of them at the stove.
- A memory book with photos, stories and messages from the family, printed for the shelf. See How to make a memory book.
- A memorial page, one link where the whole family can add photos, stories, recipes and voice messages, from any city and any phone, and where nothing gets lost in a group chat.
Keep them in your days
Memories are not only kept in boxes. Cook their dish on the holidays. Keep their garden. Tell their stories to the children, again and again, until the children tell them back. Say their name. That is how people stay with us.
One place for the whole family
The problem with memories is not that there are too few. They are scattered: in a dozen phones, in three closets, in the heads of relatives in five states. A page of memories on Voljeni gathers them: everyone gets the link and adds what they keep. It is paid once, with no subscription, it stays forever, and when the page is full it can become a printed book. Here is an example of a page of memories.
Frequently asked questions
How do you preserve the memory of a loved one?
Save their voice messages, videos and photos, write down their stories and recipes, keep a few of their things, and gather everything in one place the family can share, like a memory book or a memorial page.
How do I save voicemails from someone who died?
Save them as audio files on your phone or computer, or record them with another device, before the phone company deletes old voicemails. Keep a copy in the cloud.
What can I do with a loved one's clothes?
Keep one or two pieces that mean the most, have a quilt, pillow or teddy bear made from their shirts, and give the rest to people or charities they cared about.
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